


Battles on my Skin

by Kaito_Dragneel



Series: Paranormal Domino [23]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Echo is messed up, Gen, Hunter takes care of his own, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:54:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24279163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaito_Dragneel/pseuds/Kaito_Dragneel
Summary: Echo was a mess of suicidal planning, PTSD, trauma, and snark. The Bad Batch were given a harsh reminder of that after the third week.
Series: Paranormal Domino [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1715857
Comments: 3
Kudos: 165





	Battles on my Skin

The scream woke everyone up, piercing through the ship like a slugthrower bullet. Hunter reacts first, a curse falling from his lips as he rolls of his bunk and races to Echo’s and Crosshair’s shared room. When he gets there, Crosshair has his hands stretched out to Echo, not touching, concern etched across his face as Echo shook himself apart in the corner of the room. Hunter watches in pain as Echo claws at his head, gasps for air, and chokes on his words. There is panic and fear in Echo’s eyes. Hunter looks back as he hears Tech and Wrecker race into the room as well; he shivers as he feels their resident ghost file into the room.

“Echo? Echo, can you hear me,” Hunter asks softly, crouching in front of their newest addition.

The ARC didn’t react to his name. Hells, the kid didn’t even react to his voice. His heart rate was erratic. His cybernetics were creaking from the movement. Hunter could practically feel Tech’s wince behind him. They would have to replace those soon. Echo was shaking, tears falling, unable to take in air to breathe. Okay. Hunter swallowed carefully and composed himself quickly.

“Tech, go grab the medical kit and your tool kit. Wrecker, grab me the blanket from the main room. Crosshair, go grab me a cup of water of water,” Hunter ordered swiftly as he carefully scooted forward to pull Echo toward him.

The Bad Batch moved quickly and set to work. Echo went into Hunter’s grasp easily, hands moving away from his head and neck to grab at Hunter’s sleep shirt. The Sergeant winces as Echo’s cybernetic scratches at his chest. PTSD. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Hunter had known the minute they had taken on Echo that the kid would be a mess of trauma and snark. He just hadn’t expected it to be this bad.

“Shh, vod. Shh, breath for me. You need to breath. I’ve got you. I’ve got you. Breath in for five,” Hunter says to Echo as he held him close; a hand over the ARC’s chest, trying to get him to copy his breathing pattern.

Echo was bleeding from a few scratches at his neck and the back of his head. The ARC blinks away the tears in his eyes, clarity slowly pooling into his vision. Hunter nodded slowly as he holds Echo close, cradling the ARC to his chest. He can see Tech and Wrecker hovering in the doorway, waiting to be given the go ahead to come closer.

“Hun-ter.” Echo weakly reaches for Hunter’s hand. Good, he’s responsive, better than before. The Sergeant shushed the older clone softly as he tried to get Echo to match his breathing. Echo’s heart rate slowed down as time went on. Hunter whispers soft reassurances to the ARC as he waves his other hand to the others in the doorway and watches the others filing back into the room. “H-Hunter, wha-what’s happening?”

“Shh, just a nightmare. You just had a nightmare. Tech is going to look at your wounds, alright? Crosshair has some water for you, you need to drink it after Tech finishes patching you up, okay?” Hunter takes the blanket that Wrecker had grabbed and pulled it over himself and Echo. Tech moves forward and cradles Echo’s head as he begins to work on the wounds. Echo struggles at first before melting straight into Hunter. Wrecker sat down next to them, pulling them close. Crosshair snuggled up on Hunter’s other side, cradling the cup of water in his hands. Once he was done, Tech pulled back to put the medical kit aside and his tool kit away for later. Crosshair handed Echo the water, keeping a hand on the cup to help the ARC drink. Once Echo was done drinking, Crosshair pulled the cup away and the group cuddled together, surrounding the ARC. It’s then when Hunter speaks. “Good? Don’t worry, we have you.”

The ARC fell back asleep alongside the other batchers. Hunter, however, stayed awake, curled around Echo. His eyes were on the flickering lights in the corner of the room. Their ghost friend was sitting there in the corner of the room. Hunter sighs softly as he shifts over.

“Come here, vod,” Hunter says softly, voice a quiet whisper.

He can feel the ghost snuggle into the group, a wave cold washing over them. Hunter sighs as he stands guard over his _vode_. He would always stand guard over his vode.


End file.
